The Ocean Racearound the world sailing as a crew, it will depart on January 15 from Alicante and will arrive for the first time in history in the Mediterranean, in Italy, in Genoa. Thanks to “The Grand Finale“, The Ligurian capital will be the world capital of sailing and the arrival of the most extraordinary regatta around the world will be a great opportunity for promotion but also a moment of celebration with many events in the” Ocean Live Park “village that will be set up in the new Waterfront of Levant. But before the world “arrives” in Genoa, the Ligurian capital will go around the world. With the beginning of 2023 Genoa will be the protagonist in the stages of Alicante, Cape Town, Itajaí, Newport, Aarhus, The Hague with a “Business Lounge” in which to promote its excellence to an international audience that, in the last edition, exceeded the 2.5 million visitors.
“The value of The Ocean Race for the city of Genoa, in addition to the great sporting prestige of the initiative, is to promote our city in the world: its beauties, great attractions, food and wine, climate, traditions “, underlines the Mayor of Genoa Marco Bucci. “But also innovative processes, a fully evolving reality capable of hosting the final phase of a world-class event like the one we are about to experience. With this approach we are preparing to leave to bring Genoa to the world thanks to The Ocean Race. In the six stages in which the village will be present we will bring our pride, our beauties, our style waiting for June 24, 2023 when it will be our turn, I would do the honors of the house. We are ready to take up the great challenge that we have been waiting for for years. Convinced in the full cooperation of the entire city, we will demonstrate what the Genoese are capable of! ”.
The business lounge will have a dual function: attraction for visitors and an area for business where sponsors and companies of Italian excellence will have the opportunity to meet foreign companies to develop new opportunities. In addition to local trade associations, embassies and communities of Italians will be involved in the countries that will host the stages. We are working on a program of events that will promote the culture, gastronomy, economic and tourist attractiveness of our territory.
“We are approaching a historic and long-awaited event: for the first time, the round-the-world sailing event, one of the most important sporting events globally, will end in the Mediterraneanand not in a random place, but precisely in Genoa, increasingly the capital not only of boating, but also of sailing “, underlines the President of the Liguria Region Giovanni Toti. “Genoa will be crowned queen of the seas, and is ready to show everyone her beauty. Through The Ocean Race, the excellences of Genoa and Liguria will also be promoted to an audience of over 2 million people. A promotion of the territory that will bring great visibility to our beautiful region, ready to welcome the many tourists who will come here for the event “.
An immersive room will be set up in the “Business Lounge” developed by ETT, a Genoese company of the SCAI Group that designs and creates multimedia installations for culture, tourism and events at an international level. It will transport visitors directly to the iconic areas of Genoa and Liguria. At the entrance to the pavilion, the screen with contents on Genoa, Liguria and Italy, with a specific focus on the 77 blue flags of the Liguria Region. Then a first area dedicated to the beauties of the Cinque Terre with a photo ‐ opportunity for visitors who will be able to sit on a bench and share the photo on social networks. Continuing along the route you will arrive in Genoa, with a reproduction of the Lantern and information relating to port activity and the local economy. We will then reach the area of the Historical Shops, promoted in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce, where you will find typical objects such as, for example, the pesto mortar and ceramics from Alassio. Then a corridor will recall the typical alleys and will lead to the area dedicated to culture. Finally, the outdoor area that will recall the typical Italian squares where sampling of typical Italian products such as coffee, ice cream and Genoese pesto will be organized.
In the last edition, The Ocean Race attracted 2.5 million visitors to the villages, involved 94,000 children in the learning program, 20,000 children in sustainability workshops and 28,071 children and adults in the “Try Sailing”. 4.356 media were accredited for 2.19 billion TV news audiences, 2.62 billion readers in print media, 117.129 articles online, 1.889 billion social media post impressions, 200.7 million social media video views and 168 million of social interactions.
The temporal development of 6 months and the planetary distribution of The Ocean Race will allow a vast and persistent promotion activity, drawing attention to the territory as a tourist destination, but also as an ideal destination for developing business thanks to the continuous growth of the city with investments public and private. The Ocean Race “Genova The Grand Finale”, sponsored by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, will be an extraordinary sporting challenge, a great opportunity for promotion for Genoa, Liguria and Italy in the world and, last but not least, a strong sustainability project . The Genoa Process, a path that an intercontinental team of leading experts and stakeholders in the sector has started and that through a series of meetings (Innovation workshops) will lead to the drafting of the Charter of the Rights of the Oceans. The principles will be presented in Genoa during the “Grand Finale” and then delivered to the United Nations Assembly in New York in November 2023.
“From the Genoa Innovation Workshop last March – tells Antonio Di Natalemarine biologist and scientific consultant of the “Genova Process” – there were bi-weekly meetings of the “Core Group”, a Summit in Stockholm on June 1, mainly dedicated to the southernmost part of the Ocean and Antarctica, an Innovation Workshop in Cascais and four events at the United Nation Ocean Conference in Lisbon, always in June. A meeting at the UN was held in recent days, promoted by the Foreign Ministers of Cape Verde and Monaco, with the participation of permanent representatives from 22 countries and the IUCN and WWF. The next Summit – concludes Di Natale – will be in Alicante at the start of The Ocean Race, in January, and to follow another in Cape Verde, at the end of January ”.
“The appointment with ‘The Ocean Race, Genoa The Grand Finale’ represents for the Italian Sailing Federation and for Italy one of the most significant stages of the international sailing movement“, explains Francesco Ettorre, President of the Federvela. “As I have already pointed out several times, there has been a great effort to be able to get one of the most iconic regattas in the world to Genoa. Thanks to the commitment of the Municipality of Genoa, the Liguria Region and national institutions this was possible. In agreement with the Zone I Committee, the Federation will manage the organization of the regattas in the water and will be present in the village with two areas set up, which for us are the flagship of our projects: the Next Generation Foil Academy powered by Luna Rossa and the Para Sailing Academy which for the first time will be together. I remember with pleasure the Italian sailors, Francesca Clapcich and Giulio Bertelli, who will live this experience in the first person to whom the support of all Italian sailing goes so that this experience can be professionally and emotionally satisfying and stimulating for them. I hope the arrival of the Grand Finale in Genoa for the first time can be an incentive to be able to have an Italian crew in the near future ”.
“With the start of The Ocean Race fast approaching – explains Phil Lawrence, Race Director The Ocean Race – we are delighted to see the IMOCA fleet grow. Five entries have been confirmed and there are a couple of other interested teams who are still working on their projects while the VO65 fleet is still taking shape. The “Grand Finale” in Genoa will be really important. The teams will race towards a Mediterranean goal for the first time in 50 years of history, competing for the final points of the standings. And in the event of a tie – adds Lawrence – the final positioning of the In ‐ Port Race which will take place in Genoa will provide the score to determine the positions in the general classification. In short, Genoa will play an exciting and decisive role in this fourteenth edition of The Ocean Race “.
Source-www.adnkronos.com